Anti-ICE activists arrested over Minnesota ‘church riot’

The FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security have arrested three anti-ICE activists who invaded a Minnesota church and disrupted last week’s Sunday service.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, William Kelly, and Chauntyll Louisa Allen have been charged under the 1994 FACE Act, which protects worshipers from intimidation and physical obstruction at religious sites.

“Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States – there is no First Amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X on Thursday.

On January 18, dozens of protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul, chanting anti-ICE slogans. The activists alleged that one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, leads an ICE field office. Easterwood was previously named as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging abuse of power by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Attorney General Pam Bondi described the protest as a “coordinated attack” on a place of worship. The Department of Homeland Security said the activists took part in “church riots.”

Armstrong has denied any wrongdoing. “Why are people who are raising their voices on behalf of the vulnerable, on behalf of the poor, in the name of Jesus Christ, the ones being persecuted?” she told Democracy Now on Wednesday.

The incident took place amid heightened tensions in Minnesota following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent on January 7. The Department of Homeland Security alleged that Good attempted to ram agents with her car. Minnesota Democrats said the shooting was unjustified.

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